{"id":1964,"date":"2022-04-07T22:23:20","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T22:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2022-07-12T08:57:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T08:57:12","slug":"how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Planting Trees Affect Climate Change?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>While climate change can be a politically controversial topic, tree planting rarely is. Planting trees and climate change are directly correlated. Even Donald Trump, who once said climate change was &#8220;a hoax perpetrated by China&#8221;<span id='easy-footnote-1-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-1-1964' title='Wong, E. (2016). Trump Has Called Climate Change a Chinese Hoax. Beijing Says It Is Anything But. The New York Times. [online] 18 Nov. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/19\/world\/asia\/china-trump-climate-change.html.'><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, wanted to plant one trillion trees when he was the US President.<span id='easy-footnote-2-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-2-1964' title='Friedman, L. (2020). A Trillion Trees: How One Idea Triumphed Over Trump\u2019s Climate Denialism. The New York Times. [online] 12 Feb. Available at: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/12\/climate\/trump-trees-climate-change.html.'><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The importance of planting more trees is something that we appear to universally agree on. Yet, it\u2019s not always clear how planting trees affects climate change.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2>How can planting trees help to reduce climate change?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Trees help us to combat <a href=\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-do-forests-affect-climate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">climate change<\/a> by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide in the air. They soak up CO2 and water. Using the process of photosynthesis via sunlight, they turn this into energy and oxygen. Trees are the &#8216;lungs of our planet&#8217;, and they are the best mechanism that we have to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. The carbon is used for energy and to build plant matter, such as stems, trunks, and leaves.<span id='easy-footnote-3-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-3-1964' title='BBC (2019). What is photosynthesis? [online] BBC Bitesize. Available at: https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/bitesize\/topics\/zvrrd2p\/articles\/zn4sv9q.'><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u200cIt is estimated that a mature tree can absorb and store <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/media\/blog\/2015\/03\/17\/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">up to 48 pounds<\/a> (21 kilograms) of CO2 per year. That is roughly one ton of carbon throughout its lifetime.<span id='easy-footnote-4-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-4-1964' title='Usda.gov. (2017). The Power of One Tree &amp;#8211; The Very Air We Breathe. [online] Available at: https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/media\/blog\/2015\/03\/17\/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe.'><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u200cSome species and older trees can take in and absorb more carbon dioxide than younger trees.<span id='easy-footnote-5-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-5-1964' title='Fen Montaigne (2019).\u00a0&lt;em&gt;Leaving trees alone might be better than planting new ones&lt;\/em&gt;. [online] Grist. Available at: https:\/\/grist.org\/article\/leaving-trees-standing-might-be-more-important-than-planting-new-ones\/.'><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Therefore, it is vital for us to retain older trees instead of cutting them down and planting new trees in their place. In fact, cutting down trees releases stored carbon dioxide, increasing the number of greenhouse gases in the air.<span id='easy-footnote-6-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-6-1964' title='Union of Concerned Scientists. (2012). Tropical Deforestation and Global Warming. [online] Available at: https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/tropical-deforestation-and-global-warming.'><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u200c<\/p>\r\n<h2>What are the benefits of trees?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Trees offer various benefits to our environment and communities, in addition to helping stop climate change. Trees and their roots protect the soil, keeping it nutritious and preventing it from flooding. Moreover, the roots keep the soil in place and keep important organisms in the soil locked in.<span id='easy-footnote-7-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-7-1964' title='Sciencing. (2011). The Effects of Soil Erosion. [online] Available at: https:\/\/sciencing.com\/effects-soil-erosion-8483288.html.'><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>People&#8217;s livelihoods also depend on trees. In fact, the UN states that over 1.6 billion people depend on forests for food, resources, and employment. In addition, millions of people also depend on trees for as much as 90 percent of their fuel needs. Moreover, forests also support jobs in forestry, tourism, and recreation.<span id='easy-footnote-8-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-8-1964' title='Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2015). Forests and poverty reduction. [online] Fao.org. Available at: http:\/\/www.fao.org\/forestry\/livelihoods\/en\/.'><sup>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n<h3>Planting trees for the health of the planet<\/h3>\r\n<p>But, it\u2019s important to note that trees don\u2019t just support people. In fact, forests are home to 80 per cent of the world\u2019s terrestrial biodiversity. They create and live in complex ecosystems of organisms. These include plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria &#8211; all of which are extremely important for the health of the planet.<span id='easy-footnote-9-1964' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/how-does-planting-trees-affect-climate-change\/#easy-footnote-bottom-9-1964' title='WWF (2000). Forest Habitat | Habitats | WWF. [online] World Wildlife Fund. Available at: https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/habitats\/forest-habitat.'><sup>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"easy-footnote-title\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While climate change can be a politically controversial topic, tree planting rarely is. Planting trees and climate change are directly correlated. Even Donald Trump, who once said climate change was &#8220;a hoax perpetrated by China&#8221;, wanted to plant one trillion trees when he was the US President. The importance of planting more trees is something [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":1965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,263,212],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.6.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Does Planting Trees Affect Climate Change? - Climate Transform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The importance of planting trees is something we all appear to agree on. 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